Snow removal from cars, trucks, and other vehicles has long presented a challenge. The challenge has long been particularly great when the accumulation of snow on the vehicle is substantial.
For example, in order to remove ice from a large vehicle front or rear window with an ice scraper, it can be difficult to reach the center area of the window unless the scraper is mounted to a long handle. Such scrapers exist but their typically fixed length consumes substantial space when stored in the vehicle such as on a rear seat or on the floor adjacent the rear seat.
Some such scrapers have long included a snow brush mounted on the handle for brushing snow off the vehicle. The snow brush bristles are typically quite flexible in order to prevent the bristles from scratching the vehicle's outer surfaces when used to remove snow from them. The snow brush is therefore typically easily bent, including by resistance presented by snow on the vehicle. As a result, removing snow from the vehicle with the brush can be difficult and time consuming, especially if the snow is deep or wet and heavy.
When snow is deep or wet and heavy, one common snow removal technique has been to use a conventional fixed-length snow shovel or a smaller, collapsible snow shovel. Conventional fixed-length show shovels are bulky and consume substantial storage space in the vehicle. Many vehicles are too small for such shovels. Smaller, collapsible snow shovels consume less space and are storable in most cars and trucks. Such shovels commonly have a collapsible handle, a shovel extending from one end of the handle, and a T-shaped grip extending transversely from the opposite end of the handle. They have been made of a variety of materials, such as aluminum or plastic.
These types of collapsible snow shovels are still somewhat bulky due to the rigid shovel extending from one end of the collapsible handle. They have not included an integral window scraper, and they have required a somewhat horizontal snow shoveling technique which can be difficult to employ when snow is in difficult-to-reach areas such as on the roof of the car or in a truck bed.
The Rapala Folding Pack Shovel with Bag has a foldable handle that can be folded and rotated with respect to the shovel to abut the shovel. This product can be stored in its accompanying bag. When extended, the handle is short and only approximately 13-15 inches long. Thus, this product is difficult to use for snow removal, especially on larger vehicles. It also does not include an ice scraper suitable for use on vehicle windows. When collapsed, the handle bends to fold upon itself and then rotates to abut the shovel end, providing a relatively thick, space-consuming folded shovel.